


Mistletoe

by savannahsage



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 18:46:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5508779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savannahsage/pseuds/savannahsage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dirk just.. wasn't feeling the Christmas spirit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistletoe

Christmas in Houston was kind of a big deal. Since the end of Thanksgiving there had been lights, trees, and presents. Mall Santas had slowly begun to crawl from their holes, and no sooner had December appeared than the coffee shops started offering their “limited time holiday flavors!”.. meaning everything now tasted like candy canes and there was nothing you could do about it.

The weather was miserable too. Despite being deep in the heart of Texas, Houston turned cold and windy. It was all Dirk could do to bundle up and survive the short walk outside to the waiting taxi, let alone walk anywhere else. Sure taxis were expensive, but it was worth the cost to get out of the cold. He knew his brother would just tease him. Dave would strut around the house shirtless, complaining about the heat while Dirk shivered under layers and layers of blankets, dealing with shaking fingers while trying to code.

Whatever. So he couldn’t handle the cold. It wasn’t the only reason he hated this time of year. If the blaring lights and overly repetitive songs weren’t enough, it was just the general.. Festiveness. It seemed like everyone had someone to share this with, be it family or friends. Sure, Dirk had Dave. He had his group of friends that were all out and about every night. But that didn’t change the fact he just felt.. well. Alone. No matter what it was he did during the Christmas season, he couldn’t shake the aloneness. Christmas Eve would come and he’d be staring at their shitty tree, alone. He’d politely deny any requests from Roxy or Jane to go out, feigning sickness or work or something along those lines. They’d be sad, but they’d get over it. They always did.

Dirk huffed as he tugged his scarf up more, covering his mouth and staring out the window as the cab weaved through the ever constant Houston traffic. He wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to meet at Roxy’s for dinner tonight. It wasn’t quite Christmas yet and she was already prepared, ready with a gift exchanged and threatening him if he didn’t show up. Really the girl was just too good and knowing how to get him to go places. It was infuriating. 

It was only 6:00 pm by the time the cab pulled up, but it was already dark. Roxy and Jane’s place was lit up like some sort of professional Christmas light advertisement. The amount of work it must have taken was staggering, though he didn’t doubt many a friend had been shanghaied into helping. For once he was glad to live so far away. 

Dirk quickly paid the driver and grabbed his stuff before practically running to the door. A Strider did not run, of course. He simply disappeared and reappeared, knocking furiously as the cold began to seep into his layers. By the time Roxy had answered the door Dirk was already shaking, glare obvious through the dark shades he wore. 

“Dirky! You made it!” The words were barely out of her mouth before he was ducking under her arm and into the warmth of the house, sighing in relief.

“Howdy Dirk!” Jane’s voice filtered out from the kitchen, and he could see her peeking through the space that had been installed, smiling at him. “How was the drive?  
”  
“Long.” Was his simple reply as he turned to Roxy. The gifts he carried were thrust towards her, and she grinned. 

“Aw! You listened. I’m so proud of you. Go put them under the tree and throw your coat in the guest bedroom. I’ll get you some eggnog!”

“Roxy no-“ he didn’t even have time to protest before she was gone. Dirk scowled and proceeded to do as instructed, feeling very much like a child. 

Per the invitation’s instructions, he wore a sweater beneath those layers of clothing. It took along five minutes for him to shed down to basics, throwing his scarf last into the pile. A quick adjust of his shades, smoothing of the hair, and he was ready. 

Christmas music was blaring, and there was a video of a burning log fire on the television next to the tree. The inside of the house was equally as decorated as the outside, the walls and shelves covered in stockings and garland. Even the staircase was festive with lights and bulbs. The tree was by far the most impressive, a giant cyan and pink monster that made him feel small in comparison. With the smell of pine in the air and Jane’s cooking, it was hard not to feel in the mood.

He just.. didn’t.

“Here Dirky! Drink this. Its really good.” Roxy skipped back over to him with a glass in her fingers, and one for him. He looked down for a moment before slowly taking the glass, and giving a cautious sip. 

“Non-alcoholic?”

“Yup! You know how Jake is with drinks and he loooooves eggnog so I decided to be a good girl this year and go with the kid’s stuff.” Dirk couldn’t help but smile at that. The last time he’d gone with them to a bar, Jake had gotten so drunk the poor island boy had passed out. He didn’t blame him. Jake’s island was almost a seven hour flight away, and he barely managed to come to Houston once or twice a year, at best.

“So he’s coming for Christmas this year?” Smooth Dirk. That didn’t sound weird at all. Unfortunately Roxy was smarter than that, and her grin told him that she knew exactly why he wanted to know.

“Yup~ He comes every year unlike someone.” 

“I’m busy.”

“You’re a liar.”

“Miss Lalonde those seem to be fighting words. Are you sure you can finish what you start?” He smirked lightly. He’d never hurt Roxy, and was well aware how easily she’d kick his ass.

“Oh shove it Strider and drink more of your eggnog. Its Christmas!” With that and a happy little cheer she was gone, having disappeared back into the kitchen. 

He wandered to the couch and sat down, brooding with his drink and watching the fire on the television. Dirk wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he was jolted out of his trance by the doorbell ringing to carol of the bells. Seriously? How did she manage to do this?

“Jakeeeeyyy!!” Roxy’s enthusiasm was hard to hide, and he guessed the oof and thuds he heard was her tackling the poor island boy into dropping his things.

“Whoa now! Easy there missy I’m still a bit jet lagged!” He stood up as he heard Jake laugh, catching the tail end of the two of them spinning. Putting his drink on the table he crossed over to them, standing nearby. 

“Oh poo you’re fine and I can’t help I missed you! Janey! Jake is here!”

“You know just because I’m in the kitchen doesn’t mean I can’t hear you! Hi Jake, how was the flight?” 

“A tad on the turbulent side but otherwise no complaints! Boy that smells delicious Jane, I can hardly wait to dig in!” 

“Why bother waiting? I haven’t been.” Roxy giggle mischievously and winked.

“Roxy Lalonde if I find any bit of my cookies missing I will beat you with this spoon!” 

Conversation continued to float about him as Dirk stood there awkwardly, glancing back and forth between Roxy and Jake. Both of them were quite animated, talking about who knew what. He was barely even paying attention at this point. 

“Dirk. Dirk? …Dirk!” He snapped back to reality after hearing his name called, turning his head towards Roxy.

“Will you help Jake with his stuff upstairs? Second room on the left.” 

“Really Roxy there’s no need to trouble him-“

“Ain’t any trouble bro.” That was far more of an accent than he had meant to let slip. Had Roxy secretly been giving him spiked eggnog? He only talked like that when he was drunk. After clearing his throat he moved forward, grabbing one of Jake’s giant suitcases. Didn’t surprise him that the island boy had two. He usually came for quite an extended stay whenever he did arrive.

“Ah.. if you’re sure fellow!” Jake’s words faded behind him as he headed up the stairs, following the given instruction.

Dirk was upstairs before Roxy had even let Jake begin his journey. He flicked on the light and put the suitcase on the bed, grunting with the effort. Seriously, how did he lug these around? He was looking around the room when a voice spoke from behind him.

“Thanks chap. I probably would have been making a second trip had I done it myself! Grandma always taught me to never over pack, guess I didn’t absorb a lick of it did I?” He chuckled faintly as he joined Dirk beside the bed.

No his heart did not just race a bit.

No he did not pay attention to how their shoulders brushed against each other.

No he did not care that Jake smelled like the wilds mixed with pine and deliciousness.

“I should head back down.” The words came out a tad more clipped than he had intended, and he could see the hurt on Jake’s face. 

“Ah, er, Dirk-“ He paused, turning to look at Jake. “I… I’m glad you came. Usually you don’t show up to Roxy’s swing digs so when I heard you’d actually RSVP’d well.. Merry Christmas?” Dirk nodded in reply, swallowing hard.

“Same.” He replied, then turned and walked from the room in what he hoped was a rather calm manner. 

He could feel his heart going a million miles an hour as he stood at the stop of the staircase, cursing himself lightly. That was stupid. That was really obvious. Good job Strider. No one’s gonna think you’re weird at all now.

“Boys! Come on down, it’s time to eat!” Jane’s voice from below nearly set him into another panic, and it wasn’t helped when Jake suddenly replied “Coming!” from directly behind him.

“Jesus bro warn me when you’re just going to appear like that.” Jake grinned.

“Dear Strider I do believe you now know how the rest of us feel about you’re sudden appearing acts.” Dirk scowled as Jake laughed and clapped him on the back. 

“Come on mate! I am hankering for Jane’s cooking, it has been far too long!” He watched as the male practically skipped down the stairs, following as a slower pace. 

Roxy and Jake were seated by the time he got down, and Jane was busy carrying dishes from the counter to the table. He decided to help her, noticing that there was one spot open by Roxy, and one by Jake. He had a feeling a certain someone had planned it that way, but maybe if he was quick enough-

“Alright everybody, dig in!” 

“Wowza Jane! This looks absolutely amazing!” 

“Well duh! Everything she cooks is amazing!” Roxy had coyly pulled Jane into the chair beside her, smirking at Dirk. He shot her a glare from beneath his shades and walked over to the last open spot, trying to ignore how close they were. 

Well that wasn’t working.

The dinner conversation faded into the background as he focused on not touching his leg against Jake’s, ignoring when their elbows bumped and how infectious his laughter was. He barely remembered what he was eating, tasting basically nothing, in an attempt to look normal. The second Jane had stood to begin dishes he was up with her, gathering plates and glasses and rushing into the kitchen.

Jane washed and he dried, the two of them lapsing into a comfortable silence that was in stark contrast to the happy twosome still settled at the table. It didn’t take long before everything was finished, and Roxy was bursting up like a rocket.

“Game time!” 

The night progressed in a similar fashion, moving from one activity to the other in a whirlwind of fun and laughter. Dirk even found himself smiling, once or twice. When they weren’t beating each other at Mario Kart or Smash Bros they were fighting amongst each other in different board games. He had no idea how she collected this many games, and truthfully was afraid to ask.

“Give it up Dirk, you’ll never beat me. This is my game!” 

“Is that why you’ve already given me half of your money in one turn?” Dirk smirked he rolled the dice on monopoly, moving to another square and proceeding to build a house on one of his many properties. He leaned back, watching her for a long moment as she grumbled. 

It was midnight now, and monopoly had been going on for a little over an hour. Jane had tapped out long ago and was now leaning against the couch, watching television, and Jake had just recently lost his money. The poor lad was nodding off beside Dirk, occasionally leaning against the blonde or resting his head rather obviously on his shoulder. He was trying to ignore it, he really was, but the knowing grin on Roxy’s face just sent the blush further on his cheeks.

“Fine. You’re right, Dirk. You win~” She grinned and tossed her money down and he sighed in relief. He didn’t know how much longer he could focus on the game with Jake so close. 

“Now it’s time for presenttssss!!!” He had no idea how she had this much energy, or what sort of schedule she was running, but in a second she’d disappeared over towards the tree. Jane was shutting off the TV, giving the two of them a little smile. That left him to wake up Jake.

Dirk cleared his throat before gently shaking the man’s shoulder, trying not to stare.

“Jake. Jake. You fell asleep bro. Roxy’s opening presents.”

“Hnng? Dirk? Sorry ‘bout that chap. Just a wee bit groggy ‘s all.” Oh God that was adorable. He nodded weakly in reply, rubbing his neck. 

“All good.” His voice definitely did not just crack.

Dirk waited until Jake was up and at the tree to release the breath he’d been holding. Holy cow he was obvious. It was so obvious. He wanted to excuse himself and just leave entirely, but he wasn’t that rude. Plus these were his friends. It wasn’t until Roxy called him over that he realized he hadn’t moved, so he quickly joined them, sitting in the back. 

Roxy was sorting and passing the present to each person. He wasn’t surprised when she handed him a card from her and Jane, lips quirking. He was hard to buy for and they gave him a gift card every year he used without fail, why change tradition? He leaned back and watched as they opened their presents in turn, squealing over whatever was inside.

Roxy got a sweater with three black cats on it (“I am going to wear this everyday.” “Roxy no.” “Roxy YES!”), a variety of colourful notebooks and pens, a bunch of scarves, and some sort of airsoft gun. He wasn’t sure what on Earth that was, but Jake certainly seemed to gush over it (“That’s the newest model!”). 

Jane was next, with a brand new laptop (“ROXY! I told you no!” “MERRY CHRISTMAS!”), a new knife set (“Please don’t use those on me Janey I love you”), and a splattering of scarves, hates and sweaters. 

Last was Jake. Like Roxy, he got some sort of airsoft gun (“Blimey! This is nicer than the pistol I have now!”), a scrapbook containing a filled account of their adventures (“She’s been working on this since last year.” “Roxy shush!”) and..

“Is this a snow globe?” Dirk rubbed his neck.

“Er.. yeah.. I know it’s a bit cheesy but.. well I thought you might want something to remember Houston… us..” He looked down a bit, rubbing his fingers over the edges of the card he hadn’t even opened yet. Jake beamed.

“I absolutely adore it. Thanks Dirk!” Oh God. His heart. He bit his lip to keep from saying anything, tasting blood. He jumped up to get a garbage bag for the present residue, fingering his phone in order to call the taxi to pick him up. It was late, and he could tell everyone was tired. He didn’t need to intrude anymore than he had.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay, Dirk?” Roxy asked, pouting lightly as she helped him gather his stuff.

“Nah. I got a deadline to meet. I’ll be fine.”

“Ok.. well don’t be a stranger.” He smiled, hugging her while she held onto him tightly. 

“Thanks for coming Dirk. It was fun.”

“Yeah. It was.” He waved as she headed to take her haul upstairs, disappearing with Jane.. and leaving him with Jake. He shifted awkwardly in the silence, waiting for the alert of his taxi arriving.  
His eyes looked over towards Jake for a moment, lips twitching. He looked just as awkward as he felt. 

“Er.. Dirk..” Jake rubbed his head before he moved over, thrusting a present towards him.

“What’s this?”

“A present. For you. I.. uh.. well I’d rather it not be a public affair, ya know?” He nodded a bit, smiling.

“Do I get to open it now?” 

“I-I suppose if you want I certainly wouldn’t stop you..” He nodded before carefully removing the wrapping paper, folding it up on the couch beside him. Jake was fidgeting the entire time, and Dirk was more than aware of the looks he was getting. 

It was a rather small box, the lid carefully placed over the gift on the inside. He lifted it off carefully, lifting the small ribbon from inside. The end was attached to a rather small plant, but he knew exactly what it was. 

“Mistletoe?” 

No sooner had he said anything than he felt Jake’s hands on his, and he was being kissed. Beneath his shades his eyes widened, body stiff with shock for seconds. He finally relaxed and leaned back into Jake, kissing him back until they both had to break apart for air.

Dirk grinned faintly as he looked over towards Jake’s flushed face. 

“You know. You’re supposed to kiss someone under the mistletoe, not just give it to them.” He lifted his present into the air, holding it above Jake’s head.

“Oh sod off with your technicalities—“ He decided to just go ahead and cut him off there, with another kiss.

This time they were actually under the mistletoe, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Homestuck tumblr secret Santa! Hope you enjoyed it @maidoftim3 C:


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